2010 Bünter “Natur” Syrah  Aged 21 mos. in a once-used French oak barrel.  Aroma: smoked/roasted meat, magnolia, plums, charcoal.  Flavor: Charcoal, roasted meat, ripe plum.  Full, even heavy, body, lots of soft, persistent tannins, agreeable, balanced acidity.  Long smoky-sweet tannic finish.  13.27% Alc. 24 cases, $40/bottle.
2011 Bünter “Natur” Syrah The Aged 9 months in a neutral French oak barrel.   We bottled this wine young, with little/no oak influence, to compare time in barrel against time in bottle.  It smells of plum, raspberry, beef roast, soy, and rhubarb.  The flavor is first tangy raspberry, then earthy, woody, and meaty, with a tart chewy finish.  12.45% Alc.  29  Cases.  $40/bottle.
Les Sauvagines, 2010 French white wine from Languedoc.